August 25, 2017 - the date Myanmar's army unleashed a wave of violence on Rohingya refugees in Rakhine state, forcing nearly a million people to flee and seek shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh

Three years since Rohingya exodus: From fleeing Myanmar to ICJ trial

<p>Twitter CEO <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/happy-to-see-the-passion-with-which-youre-leading-pm-modi-meets-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-177171">Jack Dorsey</a> has been in Myanmar, where he has meditated — tracked on his Apple watch whether that made him calmer and therefore sleep better — met monks and nuns, and of course tweeted about virtually everything under the Myanmar sun.&nbsp;</p>

<p>That is everything but the Rohingya exodus.&nbsp;</p>

<p>More than 7000,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017 following a crackdown on them by the Myanmar army and security forces. The Rohingya live in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine. They are Muslim unlike the country's Buddhist majority which considers them to be "Bengali" (Bangladeshi).&nbsp;</p>

<p>Most of the Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing. I visited the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. We visited and meditated at many monasteries around the country," Dorsey tweeted.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"The highlight of my trip was serving monks and nuns food, and donating sandals and umbrellas. This group of young nuns in Mandalay and their chanting was breathtaking and chilling," he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Dorsey went on to talk about being bitten my mosquitoes, and the link between his meditating, his heart rate, and his sleeping.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing. I visited the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. We visited and meditated at many monasteries around the country. <a href="https://t.co/wMp3cmkfwi">pic.twitter.com/wMp3cmkfwi</a></p>
— jack (@jack) <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1071575147293769728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The highlight of my trip was serving monks and nuns food, and donating sandals and umbrellas. This group of young nuns in Mandalay and their chanting was breathtaking and chilling. <a href="https://t.co/E2nHFOsHu2">pic.twitter.com/E2nHFOsHu2</a></p>
— jack (@jack) <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1071575398901661696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We also meditated in a cave in Mandalay one evening. In the first 10 minutes I got bit 117 times by mosquitoes 🦟 They left me alone when the light blew a fuse, which you can see in my heart rate lowering. <a href="https://t.co/rz59Wx9yHF">pic.twitter.com/rz59Wx9yHF</a></p>
— jack (@jack) <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1071575413804064768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I also wore my Apple Watch and Oura ring, both in airplane mode. My best meditations always had the least variation in heart rate. When I wasn’t focused, it would jump around a lot. Here’s a night of sleep on the 10th night (my resting heart rate was consistently below 40). <a href="https://t.co/9fiz8s8DR5">pic.twitter.com/9fiz8s8DR5</a></p>
— jack (@jack) <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1071575424931512320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>He was met with a barrage of criticism.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"I'm no expert on meditation, but is it supposed to make you so self-obsessed that you forget to mention you're in a country where the military has committed mass killings &amp; mass rape, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, in one of today's biggest humanitarian disasters?," the European media director of Human Rights Watch Andrew Stroehlein tweeted.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rohingya?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rohingya</a> are literally being exterminated by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Myanmar</a> authorities, social media are helping amplifying the genocide and meanwhile, Jack Dorsey proudly tweets about the amazing silent retreat he did in Myanmar on his birthday. It speaks volume (pun intended). <a href="https://t.co/FXm0gP79h6">https://t.co/FXm0gP79h6</a></p>
— Rim-Sarah Alouane (@RimSarah) <a href="https://twitter.com/RimSarah/status/1071655951772602368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jack</a> is recommending Myanmar as a hip cool tourist destination at the same time as hundreds of thousands of members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have been forced to flee the country (to Bangaldesh &amp; elsewhere) due to persecution, violence, rape, murder, &amp; attempted genocide. <a href="https://t.co/MSLujiJTYW">https://t.co/MSLujiJTYW</a></p>
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1071856813082066944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This guy. Jack Dorsey went to enjoy a meditation trip in Myanmar . No wonder Twitter has only 250 million people. <a href="https://t.co/qPqDZpkOzw">pic.twitter.com/qPqDZpkOzw</a></p>
— Gharib Tommy (@gharib_tommy) <a href="https://twitter.com/gharib_tommy/status/1071761444767715328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>Twitter spokeswoman Kate Hayes said in an email she had no comment on the criticism.</p>

<p>In a special report in August, Reuters described how hate speech proliferated on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook at the peak of the military crackdown.</p>

<p>In August 2017, hundreds of new Twitter accounts suddenly sprang up in Myanmar.</p>

<p>Many of the tweets on these accounts appeared to be attempts to counter sympathetic portrayals of the Rohingya by the Western news media and human rights activists.</p>

<p>Reuters reported that these and similar tweets could still be found online nearly a year after the crackdown. Twitter's "hateful conduct policy" forbids attacking groups of people on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin, or engaging in "behaviour that incites fear about a protected group".</p>

<p>Reuters added that Twitter removed a number of tweets the news agency flagged to it in the run up to the publication of the report.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Dorsey had last month run into trouble in India after he was pictured holding up a placard saying "<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/twitter-says-sorry-as-ceos-photo-in-india-with-placard-sparks-anger-178384">Smash Brahminical </a>P<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/twitter-says-sorry-as-ceos-photo-in-india-with-placard-sparks-anger-178384">artriarchy</a>".&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from Reuters)</em></p>


Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been in Myanmar, where he has meditated — tracked on his Apple watch whether that made him calmer and therefore sleep better — met monks and nuns, and of course tweeted about virtually everything under the Myanmar sun.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been in Myanmar, where he has meditated — tracked on his Apple watch whether that made him calmer and therefore sleep better — met monks and nuns, and of course tweeted about virtually everything under the Myanmar sun. That is everything but the Rohingya exodus. More than 7000,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017 following a crackdown on them by the Myanmar army and security forces. The Rohingya live in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine. They are Muslim unlike the country's Buddhist majority which considers them to be "Bengali" (Bangladeshi). Most of the Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh. "Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing. I visited the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. We visited and meditated at many monasteries around the country," Dorsey tweeted. "The highlight of my trip was serving monks and nuns food, and donating sandals and umbrellas. This group of young nuns in Mandalay and their chanting was breathtaking and chilling," he added. Dorsey went on to talk about being bitten my mosquitoes, and the link between his meditating, his heart rate, and his sleeping. Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing. I visited the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. We visited and meditated at many monasteries around the country. pic.twitter.com/wMp3cmkfwi — jack (@jack) December 9, 2018 × The highlight of my trip was serving monks and nuns food, and donating sandals and umbrellas. This group of young nuns in Mandalay and their chanting was breathtaking and chilling. pic.twitter.com/E2nHFOsHu2 — jack (@jack) December 9, 2018 × We also meditated in a cave in Mandalay one evening. In the first 10 minutes I got bit 117 times by mosquitoes 🦟 They left me alone when the light blew a fuse, which you can see in my heart rate lowering. pic.twitter.com/rz59Wx9yHF — jack (@jack) December 9, 2018 × I also wore my Apple Watch and Oura ring, both in airplane mode. My best meditations always had the least variation in heart rate. When I wasn’t focused, it would jump around a lot. Here’s a night of sleep on the 10th night (my resting heart rate was consistently below 40). pic.twitter.com/9fiz8s8DR5 — jack (@jack) December 9, 2018 × He was met with a barrage of criticism. "I'm no expert on meditation, but is it supposed to make you so self-obsessed that you forget to mention you're in a country where the military has committed mass killings & mass rape, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, in one of today's biggest humanitarian disasters?," the European media director of Human Rights Watch Andrew Stroehlein tweeted. #Rohingya are literally being exterminated by #Myanmar authorities, social media are helping amplifying the genocide and meanwhile, Jack Dorsey proudly tweets about the amazing silent retreat he did in Myanmar on his birthday. It speaks volume (pun intended). https://t.co/FXm0gP79h6 — Rim-Sarah Alouane (@RimSarah) December 9, 2018 × .@Jack is recommending Myanmar as a hip cool tourist destination at the same time as hundreds of thousands of members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have been forced to flee the country (to Bangaldesh & elsewhere) due to persecution, violence, rape, murder, & attempted genocide. https://t.co/MSLujiJTYW — Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) December 9, 2018 × This guy. Jack Dorsey went to enjoy a meditation trip in Myanmar . No wonder Twitter has only 250 million people. pic.twitter.com/qPqDZpkOzw — Gharib Tommy (@gharib_tommy) December 9, 2018 × Twitter spokeswoman Kate Hayes said in an email she had no comment on the criticism. In a special report in August, Reuters described how hate speech proliferated on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook at the peak of the military crackdown. In August 2017, hundreds of new Twitter accounts suddenly sprang up in Myanmar. Many of the tweets on these accounts appeared to be attempts to counter sympathetic portrayals of the Rohingya by the Western news media and human rights activists. Reuters reported that these and similar tweets could still be found online nearly a year after the crackdown. Twitter's "hateful conduct policy" forbids attacking groups of people on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin, or engaging in "behaviour that incites fear about a protected group". Reuters added that Twitter removed a number of tweets the news agency flagged to it in the run up to the publication of the report. Dorsey had last month run into trouble in India after he was pictured holding up a placard saying "Smash Brahminical Partriarchy". (With inputs from Reuters)

Twitter CEO slammed after he tweets about everything in Myanmar but Rohingya crisis

<p>More than 10,000 Muslim Rohingya have massed in Myanmar near a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/aid-group-warns-of-death-among-rohingya-in-bangladesh-20298" target="_blank">crossing point into Bangladesh</a>, Myanmar media said&nbsp;Tuesday, apparently poised to join an exodus across the border due to food shortages and fear of attacks in their mainly Buddhist homeland.</p>

<p>Over 500,000 Rohingya have streamed into Bangladesh in just the past five weeks, and numbers are again swelling, raising doubts about the practicality of a Myanmar proposal to begin repatriating them.</p>

<p>Myanmar&#39;s northern state of Rakhine has been emptied of half of its Rohingya population in weeks.</p>

<p>More are on the move as insecurity presses them to leave those villages which have so far been spared the worst of the violence that ripped through the state.</p>

<p>Attacks by Rohingya militants on&nbsp;August 25&nbsp;spurred a ferocious Myanmar army crackdown that the UN says amounted to &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot;.</p>

<p>Over 10,000 &quot;Muslims&quot; have arrived &quot;between Letphwekya and Kwunthpin village to emigrate to the neighbouring country&quot;, the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported&nbsp;Tuesday.</p>

<p>Myanmar&#39;s government refuses to recognise the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group, instead of calling them &quot;Muslims&quot; or &quot;Bengalis&quot;, code for illegal migrants from Bangladesh.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Authorities have tried to reassure fleeing Rohingya that they are now safe in Rakhine, the report added, but they want to leave &quot;of their own accord&quot;.</p>

<p>Violence appears to have ebbed in northern Rakhine, although independent reporting is still prevented by an army lockdown.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But fear has unsettled many of the Rohingya who remain, threatened by Myanmar&#39;s army and their hostile ethnic Rakhine neighbours and cut off from aid agencies.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After a brief lull in arrivals, the Bangladesh Border Guard says 4-5,000 Rohingya are now crossing each day.</p>

<p>&quot;They don&#39;t want to stay (in Myanmar). They want to come here... they are being told to leave,&quot; Lieutenant-Colonel SM Ariful Islam told AFP.</p>

<p>Food is also running out, with villagers too fearful to tend to their crops in case they are attacked by their neighbours.</p>

<p>&quot;In some villages, they are scared to pass by Rakhine villages,&quot; Chris Lewa, from Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, told AFP.</p>

<p>Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/rohingya-infant-washes-up-dead-reminds-world-of-syrian-boy-alan-kurdi-10903" target="_blank">Rohingya infant washes up dead, reminds world of Syrian boy Alan Kurdi</a></p>

<p><strong>Rakhine in ruins&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>Myanmar denies most Rohingya citizenship and the public in the Buddhist-majority nation does not want them back.</p>

<p>Myanmar&#39;s army has branded them illegal immigrants intent on imposing Islam via the country&#39;s western gateway.</p>

<p>On Monday&nbsp;Myanmar&#39;s Minister of the Office of State Counselor, Kyaw Tint Swe, told Bangladesh his country was ready to accept refugees subject to a verification process agreed in the early 1990s by the neighbours.</p>

<p>The minister&#39;s offer applies only to those who fled in the past year, according to a Bangladeshi official, excluding some 300,000 Rohingya who fled earlier.&nbsp;</p>

<p>And refugees and rights groups say the verification which Myanmar wants will leave huge numbers in the squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh since it relies on documentation which most Rohingya do not have.</p>

<p>The refugees are also deeply fearful of what awaits back in Myanmar, with many recounting stories of rape and mass murder at the hands of the army while their villages have been destroyed.</p>

<p>Relief agencies&nbsp;Tuesday&nbsp;were fighting to contain a diarrhoea outbreak around hugely overcrowded camps in Bangladesh.</p>

<p>A 20-bed clinic was opened at Kutupalong camp&nbsp;Monday&nbsp;for diarrhoea victims and another 60-bed facility will be set up this week.</p>

<p>&quot;We have seen an increasing trend of diarrhoeal disease cases, including cases of diarrhoea with severe dehydration,&quot; said United Nations refugee agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic.</p>

<p>The UN said it would seek $430 million to increase operations in the camps.</p>

<p>Inside Rakhine, already one of Myanmar&#39;s poorest states, conditions are worsening for those left behind.</p>

<p>UN officials toured a conflict-hit portion of the state&nbsp;on Monday, noting the &quot;unimaginable&quot; scale of suffering and urging humanitarian access.</p>

<p>An EU delegation accompanying them on the government-steered day trip urged an end to the violence after seeing &quot;villages burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants&quot;.</p>

<h1 title="Fires rage in Rakhine as Myanmar army blames Rohingya for mosque blast">&nbsp;</h1>


Over 500,000 Rohingya have streamed into Bangladesh in just the past five weeks

More than 10,000 Muslim Rohingya have massed in Myanmar near a crossing point into Bangladesh, Myanmar media said Tuesday, apparently poised to join an exodus across the border due to food shortages and fear of attacks in their mainly Buddhist homeland. Over 500,000 Rohingya have streamed into Bangladesh in just the past five weeks, and numbers are again swelling, raising doubts about the practicality of a Myanmar proposal to begin repatriating them. Myanmar's northern state of Rakhine has been emptied of half of its Rohingya population in weeks. More are on the move as insecurity presses them to leave those villages which have so far been spared the worst of the violence that ripped through the state. Attacks by Rohingya militants on August 25 spurred a ferocious Myanmar army crackdown that the UN says amounted to "ethnic cleansing". Over 10,000 "Muslims" have arrived "between Letphwekya and Kwunthpin village to emigrate to the neighbouring country", the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Tuesday. Myanmar's government refuses to recognise the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group, instead of calling them "Muslims" or "Bengalis", code for illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Authorities have tried to reassure fleeing Rohingya that they are now safe in Rakhine, the report added, but they want to leave "of their own accord". Violence appears to have ebbed in northern Rakhine, although independent reporting is still prevented by an army lockdown. But fear has unsettled many of the Rohingya who remain, threatened by Myanmar's army and their hostile ethnic Rakhine neighbours and cut off from aid agencies. After a brief lull in arrivals, the Bangladesh Border Guard says 4-5,000 Rohingya are now crossing each day. "They don't want to stay (in Myanmar). They want to come here... they are being told to leave," Lieutenant-Colonel SM Ariful Islam told AFP. Food is also running out, with villagers too fearful to tend to their crops in case they are attacked by their neighbours. "In some villages, they are scared to pass by Rakhine villages," Chris Lewa, from Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, told AFP. Also read: Rohingya infant washes up dead, reminds world of Syrian boy Alan Kurdi Rakhine in ruins Myanmar denies most Rohingya citizenship and the public in the Buddhist-majority nation does not want them back. Myanmar's army has branded them illegal immigrants intent on imposing Islam via the country's western gateway. On Monday Myanmar's Minister of the Office of State Counselor, Kyaw Tint Swe, told Bangladesh his country was ready to accept refugees subject to a verification process agreed in the early 1990s by the neighbours. The minister's offer applies only to those who fled in the past year, according to a Bangladeshi official, excluding some 300,000 Rohingya who fled earlier. And refugees and rights groups say the verification which Myanmar wants will leave huge numbers in the squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh since it relies on documentation which most Rohingya do not have. The refugees are also deeply fearful of what awaits back in Myanmar, with many recounting stories of rape and mass murder at the hands of the army while their villages have been destroyed. Relief agencies Tuesday were fighting to contain a diarrhoea outbreak around hugely overcrowded camps in Bangladesh. A 20-bed clinic was opened at Kutupalong camp Monday for diarrhoea victims and another 60-bed facility will be set up this week. "We have seen an increasing trend of diarrhoeal disease cases, including cases of diarrhoea with severe dehydration," said United Nations refugee agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic. The UN said it would seek $430 million to increase operations in the camps. Inside Rakhine, already one of Myanmar's poorest states, conditions are worsening for those left behind. UN officials toured a conflict-hit portion of the state on Monday, noting the "unimaginable" scale of suffering and urging humanitarian access. An EU delegation accompanying them on the government-steered day trip urged an end to the violence after seeing "villages burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants".

10,000 Rohingya poised to enter Bangladesh as exodus swells again

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Three years since Rohingya exodus: From fleeing Myanmar to ICJ trial

Twitter CEO slammed after he tweets about everything in Myanmar but Rohingya crisis

10,000 Rohingya poised to enter Bangladesh as exodus swells again